明目张胆
míng​mù​zhāng​dǎn

brazenly

明 míng, ming bright

The character was originally depicted moonlight (月) shining through a window (囧). The 囧 component was later reanalyzed as 日 (sun).

Components

囧
囧 SoundIconic component
jiǒng bright window

The modern form looks similar to 日 (sun).

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囧 than it was in ancient scripts.
月
月 Iconic component
yuè, yue moon

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

盟萌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjaengmraŋ bright

說文解字

《說文》：“朙，照也。从月，从囧。明，古文朙，从日。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.551-552漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

目 mù eye

Pictograph of an eye.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (20 of 91 verified)

看眼省睛督睡瞧盯睁眠瞪盲瞬盼眨瞎瞒瞄睹瞥瞅眩眯瞻眷睦眶睬瞿瞩眺眸睫瞟瞳瞰睑睽睐眈瞠瞌盹瞑睢瞭睨睇眦瞋盱瞽睃矇睥眇眬眙睚眢瞀瞇眚瞍眍眄瞢眭瞓眳睏眵瞼眎睞眥矚窅瞵県瞜睘瞞䀏矓𡍬瞈眡睜眽瞘

Iconic (17)

面民相见直冒曼童泪眉蜀艮見睪𥄕眔憲

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

苜钼

Simplified (1)

见

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjuwkC.m(r)[u]k eye

說文解字

《說文》：“目，人眼。象形。重童子也。，古文目。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.261-262
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

张 zhāng stretch Simplified

Simplified form of 張. Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 長 represents the sound.

Components

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow
长
长 Sound component
zhǎng, cháng long

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

涨

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

胆 dǎn gall bladder Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 旦 represents the sound. Simplified form of 膽.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

旦
旦 Sound component
dàn dawn

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangdaːn
daːn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

張 zhāng stretch Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 長 represents the sound.

Components

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow
長
長 Sound component
zhǎng, cháng long

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

漲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjangC.traŋ draw a bow

說文解字

《說文》：“張，施弓弦也。从弓，長聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

膽 dǎn gall bladder Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 詹 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

詹
詹 Sound component
zhān, dàn talk too much

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttamX[t]ˤamʔgall
Zhengzhangtaːmʔ
Unicodedɑ̌m

說文解字

連肝之府。从肉詹聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)